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In 1930, after the Mukden Incident, Japanese presence began threatening the Northeastern region of China, which was under the control of the Warlord's young son, Zhang Xueliang. The leader of the Republic of China, Chiang Kai-shek, had yet to gather the confidence to fight the Japanese. The Japanese had murdered Zhang Xueliang's father mere two years earlier, believing that the inexperienced womanizer and heroin addict couldn't stand up to their military might. Zhang Xuening, Zhang Xueliang's younger sister, returned to Fengtian after studying in Japan for several years. With the stiffening relationship between the two countries, her brother decided that it was time for her to return home and marry Tian Zhaoyang, a French-trained doctor. After hearing about the incident and fervently believing that the Japanese were at fault, Zhang Xuening had another plan. She had met a young woman in Japan, who, after learning about her identity, scorned her family for their appeasement of the Japanese. Embarrassed, she finally gave in to her brother's request and returned to China to complete their engagement. (edited)

Zhang Xuening pleaded with her brother to defend the region against the Japanese, but Zhang Xueliang was insistent—What good would it do? His Northeastern Army was too weak to fight the Japanese. “So we should just wave the white flag and give in?” She shouted at her brother, who responded to her with an arrogant sneer. “Better that than sacrificing the innocent people!” She ran out of his room crying. At age twenty-four, she was still a child, growing up under her father’s strict rules. She missed her father’s stern demeanour and his beaver fur hat that smelled of tobacco. Tian Zhaoyang, her fiancé, was a gentle and well-educated man, but they disagreed on the Northeastern Army’s next course of action. As a mild, studious man, Tian believed that self-preservation was more important than risking the lives of civilians. Zhang Xuening felt frustrated. In the expansive landscape of the Northeast, she felt increasingly lonely. At her engagement party, she left the cheerful crowd and snuck out of her family’s estate. The city was still vibrant, not aware of the impending doom. Her lavish Western dress stood out like a sore thumb. When a few locals refused to let her leave the dark alley behind the busy bar, a young man, in a Zhongshan suit, raised his fists against the men. Before he did anything, the locals ran away, terrified. It turned out that he was a student of the famed martial artist, Huo Yuanjia, who braved foreign challengers. His fists were well-known threats to the locals after a few weeks of being in Fengtian. Once a cherished son of a prominent family from Nanjing, he was chased out of his family after becoming too friendly with the communist party. Tired of Chiang’s inaction against the Japanese, he decided to come down to the Northeast, at the front of the conflict. (edited)

Together, they explored the city and witnessed the Japanese stronghold of the region. Zhang would reject her fiancé’s invitation to lavish gatherings and meet with Li in the freezing wind of the Northeast. They shared more camaraderie than romance. One day, after they were inebriated, they snuck into a Japanese military base, hoping to wreak havoc, but before they could break through the barrier, they were caught. Recognizing Zhang, the Japanese officer took advantage of this opportunity. In the negotiation of the safe return of his sister, Zhang Xueliang was forced to withdraw his troops from Shenyang, an agreement that led to an accelerated Japanese occupation of the region. Zhang was embarrassed by her reckless actions and penned a letter to her brother, pleading for him not to sign the agreement, but her brother eventually agreed to the Japanese terms in the following week. When Zhang and Li were released, Zhang Xueliang was furious. He forbade Li from the Northwestern region and grounded Zhang until her wedding in the following summer.